Circuit protector

ABSTRACT

In a preferred form, this disclosure relates to an electric circuit protector comprising a generally planar body member made of an electrically insulating material and having a main body portion with a transverse opening therethrough and an integral handle portion at one side thereof, a pair of spaced terminals carried by the body portion, a metal fuse element having its opposite ends secured to the terminals, a generally rectangularly shaped hollow cover open at its opposite ends and which is slidably received over the body member to provide a covering for the opening and the fuse element, and cooperable detent means on the handle portion and the cover to detent and hold the cover in place on the body member.

[ 1 Nov. 27, 1973 United States Patent [191 Mamrick eta].

[ CIRCUIT PROTECTOR [75 Inventors: Michael S. Mamrick, Hubbard;

Edward Bungo, warren, both of Primary Examiner-Roy N. Envall, Jr. Ohio Attorney-W. S. Pettigrew et a1.

[73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation,

57 ABSTRACT In a preferred form, this disclosure relates to an elec- Detroit, Mich.

Mar. 5, 1973 Appl. No.: 338,028

I [22] Flled' .tric circuit protector comprising a generally planar body member made of an electrically insulating material anizl having a main bodyportion with a transverse opening therethrough and an integral handle portion at one side thereof, a pair of spaced terminals carried by the body portion, a metal fuse element having its opposite ends secured to the terminals, a generally rectangularly shaped hollow cover open at its opposite 78 7 95 9 mo 3 3 7 ooHoo 1 .2

2 7 v 3 "76 3 W38 3 .31 5 m 4 u 4 n m5 m 3; in u Tm W W ends and which is slidably received over the body References Cited member to provide a covering for the opening and the UNITED STATES PATENTS fuse element, and cooperable detent means on the 337/246 X handle portion and the cover to detent and hold the Sims et al. 337/187 cover in place on the men-gen FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 2,830,l56 4/1958 Burgess,Jr...,.................. 2,941,059 6/1960 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 12/1900 Great Britain...................... 3/1921 Great Britain... 637,897 5/l928 France....................,...........

lic material such that the neck portion 62 will melt to break electrical continuity between the terminals when a current in excess of a predetermined magnitude is passed therethrough. The fuse .element 22 is adapted to be positioned onto the terminals 20 by having fingers 54 received within the openings 64. The other fingers 56 provide a support to hold the fusable element 22 in a plane which is parallel to the plane of the body portion 14. The fusable element 22- is adapted to be secured in place on the fingers 54 by soldering it thereto, as indicated by reference numeral 68.

The fusable element 22 is adapted to be covered to prevent dirt and other deleterious matter from coming into contact therewith by the cover 24. The cover 24 is hollow and open at both ends to define an axial through opening 70 which is shaped complementary to main body portion 14 of the body member 12. That is, the cover has planar top and bottom sides 71 and 72, as viewed in FIG. .6, and rounded ends 73 and 74 shaped complementary with the external arcuate sides of the side walls 33 and 35. i

The cover 24 is adapted to be slidably receiver over the main body portion 14 of the body member 12 and held in place when positioned thereover by the detent means 30. The detent means 30 comprises a pair of inwardly extending recesses 80 adjacent the opposite ends of the handle portion 16 and inwardly extending, arcuate flanges 82 formed integral with the rounded ends 73 and 74 at the right end of the cover 24, as viewed in FIG. 1. The cover 24, like the body portion 14, is made from a suitable electrically insulating material, such as plastic. When the cover is being positioned over the main body portion 14, the flanges 82 will engage the handle portion 16 adjacent the recesses 80. The cover 24, though substantially rigid, is nevertheless thin enough to be sufficiently flexible to enable the flanges 82 to be cammed outwardly over the outermost handle sections 16a until the flanges 82 are positioned adjacent the recesses 80 whereupon the self-biasing forces of the plastic cover will return toward its original free state position and be snapped or detented in place within the recess 80, as shown in FIG. 1. The flanges 82 and the cover 24 are thus detented between the side wall 34 and the handle section 16a adjacent the recesses 80. The top and bottom walls 71 and 72 of the cover 24 are also recessed, as indicated by reference numeral 86, adjacent its right end so as to expose the oval opening 44 so that the handle portion 16 can be manually grasped. It should be noted that even though the cover 24 prevents or substantially prevents deleterious matter from coming into contact with the fuse element 22, the sliding fit between the cover 24 and body member 12 is such thatair can pass therebetween. This helps to dissipate the heat generated by the fuse element.

v passed through a suitable punch and die apparatus to punch out a carrier strip 90 and partial terminals 20, as

shown in FIG. 5. Thereafter, the terminals and carrier strip 90, as shown' in FIG. 5, are moved to a mold station wherein'the 'plastic body member 12 is molded onto the terminals 20. The partial assembly is then passed through another punch and die apparatus where the carrier strip portions between the blade portions 50 of the terminals 20 is punched out and removed to separate and'provide the finished terminals 20.-1t should be understood that the carrier strip could be removed at a later operation, if desired.

Thereafter, the body member 12 and terminals 20 are conveyed and fed via ahopp'er onto 'a'work station where blanked out fuse elements 22 a re' fed and positioned onto the fingers 54. This assembly is then fed to another work station where a pair of rings of solder are placed over the fingers 54 and then heated to melt the solder to form the soldered connections between the ends 60 and 6 1 of the fuse elementsand the terminals i 20; Thereafter, the circuit protector thuslrnade isfed by hopper fe'ed into a machine wherea previously molded cover 24 is assembled thereover by relatively moving the circuit protector and cover towards each other until the flanges 82 snap within the recesses 80. The particular construction and arrangement of the novel circuit protector 10 is such that it lends itself very readily to automated assembly and thus, reduces the cost of manufacture.

Although the illustrated embodiment hereof has been described in great detail, it should be apparent that certain modifications, changes, and adaptations may be made in the illustrated embodiment, and that it is intended to cover all such modifications, changes and adaptations which come within the spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric circuit protector comprising;

a generally planar body member made of an electrically' insulating material, said body member having a main body portion having a transverse through opening andan integral outwardly extending handle portion at one side of the body portion and lying in the plane of the body portion,

a pair of spaced terminals carried by said body portion, one end-of each of said terminals projecting outwardly of said body portion and the other end of said terminals being disposed within said transverse through opening,

a metal fuse element having its opposite ends secured to said other ends of said terminals,

a hollow cover open at its opposite ends and shaped complementary with the main body portion of the body member, said cover being slidably receivable over said body member to provide a covering for said opening and fuse element,

:and cooperable snap-fitting detent means on one of said handle and body portions and said cover to detent andhold said cover in place on said body member when positioned thereover.

2. An electric circuit protector comprising:-

a generally planar body member made of an electricallyinsulating material, said body member having a main body portion having a transverse through opening and an integral outwardly extending handle portion atone side. of the body portion and a metal fuse element having its opposite ends securedto said other ends of said terminals,

a hollow cover open at its opposite ends andshaped complementary with the main body portion of the body member, said cover being slidably receivable over said body member to provide a covering for said opening and fuse element,

and cooperable snap-fitting detent means on said handle portion and said cover to detent and hold said cover in place on said body member when positioned thereover.

3. An electric circuit protector comprising:

a generally rectangularly shaped, planar body member made of an electrically insulating material, said body member having a main body portion with a transverse opening therethrough and an integral,

outwardly extending handle portion at one side of body member, said terminals including a planar forward portion projecting outwardly of said remote side and a pla- .nar rearward portion having upturned ends disposed within said transverse opening a fuse element having first and second end portions and-an intermediate portion of a narrower width than the end portions, said end portions having a through opening shaped complementary to the ends of the rearward portion of said terminals, said end portions being slidably received on said ends of said rearward portion of said terminals and being soldered thereto,

a hollow cover open at its opposite ends and shaped complementary with the main body portion of said body member, said cover being slidably received over said body portion to provide a cover for said transverse opening and fuse element,

and cooperable detent means comprising a pair of oppositely facing recesses in said handle portion adjacent its juncture's with said one side of said body portion and a pair of inwardly extending flanges on said cover which are snap-fittingly receivable within said recesses to detent said cover in place on said body member. 

1. An electric circuit protector comprising: a generally planar body member made of an electrically insulating material, said body member having a main body portion having a transverse through opening and an integral outwardly extending handle portion at one side of the body portion and lying in the plane of the body portion, a pair of spaced terminals carried by said body portion, one end of each of said terminals projecting outwardly of said body portion and the other end of said terminals being disposed within said transverse through opening, a metal fuse element having its opposite ends secured to said other ends of said terminals, a hollow cover open at its opposite ends and shaped complementary with the main body portion of the body member, said cover being slidably receivable over said body member to provide a covering for said opening and fuse element, and cooperable snap-fitting detent means on one of said handle and body portions and said cover to detent and hold said cover in place on said body member when positioned thereover.
 2. An electric circuit protector comprising: a generally planar body member made of an electrically insulating material, said body member having a main body portion having a transverse through opening and an integral outwardly extending handle portion at one side of the body portion and lying in the plane of the body portion, a pair of spaced terminals carried by said body portion, one end of each of said terminals projecting outwardly of said body portion and the other end of said terminals being disposed within said transverse through opening, a metal fuse element having its opposite ends secured to said other ends of said terminals, a hollow cover open at its opposite ends and shaped complementary with the main body portion of the body member, said cover being slidably receivable over said body member to provide a covering for said opening and fuse element, and cooperable snap-fitting detent means on said handle portion and said cover to detent and hold said cover in place on said body member when positioned thereover.
 3. An electric circuit protector comprising: a generally rectangularly shaped, planar body member made of an electrically insulating material, said body member having a main body portion with a transverse opening therethrough and an integral, outwardly extending handle portion at one side of the body portion and lying in the plane of the body portion, said one side being arcuate and defining with said handle portion a generally oval-shaped opening, a pair of terminals embedded within said main body portion at its side remote from the handle portion and generally extending parallel to the plane of the body member, said terminals including a planar forward portion projecting outwardly of said remote side and a planar rearward portion having upturned ends disposed within said transverse opening, a fuse element having first and second end portions and an intermediate portion of a narrower width than the end portions, said end portions having a through opening shaped complementary to the ends of the rearward portion of said terminals, said end portions being slidably received on said ends of said rearward portion of said terminals and being soldered thereto, a hollow cover open at its opposite ends and shaped complementary with the main body portion of said body member, said cover being slidably received over said body portion to provide a cover for said transverse opening and fuse element, and cooperable detent means comprising a pair of oppositely facing recesses in said handle portion adjacent its junctures with said one side of said body portion and a pair of inwardly extending flanges on said cover which are snap-fittingly receivable within said recesses to detent said cover in place on said body member. 